516 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



such circumstances it is not to be wondered at that 

 many thousands (perhaps some hundreds ot thou- 

 sands) ol" acres ol the most fertile lands in lower 

 Virginia still remain, (and ever must remain, 

 while the law remains unchanged,) not only ut- 

 terly worthless, but a nuisance lo agriculture, and 

 a wide-spread source or annual disease and deaths. 

 And the evil condition and eflects of these swamps 

 have been becoming worse and worse ever smce 

 the first settlement ol" the country, and will conii- 

 nue to become worse, untd the proper remedy is 

 afford ed. 



In their original and natural slate, the waters of 

 Buch streams as the Blackwaier and the up- 

 per Chickahominy, &c., which form wide swamps 

 by their obstruction and overflow, must have had 

 much deeper channels and lower levels than lat- 

 terly and now. Except, the rare falling of trees 

 by their natural death and decay, or the construc- 

 tion of dams by beavers, there was nothing to ob- 

 struct the passage of the streams. But since the 

 eetllement of the country, the obstructions are 

 increased and heightened every year, and the low 

 lands thereby are kept more and longer under the 

 inundations, and the nuisance of the swamp in 

 every way increased, but more especially in the 

 injurious eHiects of its exhalations on health. The 

 large trees on the margins of the streams are cut 

 down lor timber, and their tops most frequently 

 fall into or across the bed of the sluggish stream ; 

 and these tops, catching the floating leaves and 

 mud, soon Ibrm dams which raise the water and 

 compel it to spread over the adjstcent level ground, 

 and to seek new passages ihrouizh the swamp. 

 Thus it may be inferred that by such repeated ob- 

 structions the surfaces of these swamp lands are 

 now much higher than formerly, and yet the wa- 

 ters are still higher in comparison to the land, and 

 more frequently serving to inundate. The trunks 

 of fallen trees are soon covered by v>?ater, or mud ; 

 and, being kept constantly wet, do not rot for 

 many years. The trunks of cypress trees thus 

 covered remain unrotted for hundreds, and per- 

 haps thousands of years. 



The obvious and effectual mode of draining such 

 swamps, is to begin at the lowest occurring ob- 

 structions, and cut a passage of suitable width 

 and depth through them from the clear and open 

 outlet of the main stream, through the middle 

 of the swamp to its head, or lo the highest point 

 of the land to be drained, taking lor the route the 

 lowest, shortest, or otherwise best course to dis- 

 charge the floods, and not the mere dividing lines 

 of opposite estates. This being done, and the 



serve as an outlet for the discharge of the water from 

 the upper part. But A had not supposed it possible 

 that his neighbor could fail to perform this implied ob- 

 ligation, and toolc no guaranty for the performance- 

 Subsequently, for some reason or motive unnecessary 

 here to investigate, B closed the main ditch at his 

 upper boundary, retaining its draining benefit for his 

 own ground, and leaving the land of A in as bad con- 

 dition as before he began his gratuitous and fruitless 

 labors. The estate of the latter has since remained, 

 as before, of less than half its proper value, and the 

 residents regular sulferers from autumnal diseases. 



Ed. E. R. 



passage merely being kept open, (and for that it 

 would usually be only necesary to refi-ain from 

 forming new obstructions,) the stream would be 

 generally, if not always, kept within its new chan- 

 nel, (and which would indeed be deepened by ihe 

 passiige of ihe vvaier,) the land would rarely be 

 oveitlowed, and the main otjeci of the join) and ge- 

 neral operation would have been effected. Each 

 individuaf proprietor could then certainly and 

 cheaply complete the draining of his own share 

 of the swamp laud, by opening smaller drains, 

 and empiymg them into the deep and sufficient 

 outlet furnished by the great main drain passing 

 through or along side of his lowest ground. And 

 thus, it is conlideniiy believed, there might be 

 drained an immense body of the must leriile landa 

 at an expense less than one-tenth of the available 

 value of the landii when so improved — and per- 

 haps even less than the coit of the evil now 

 caused by the present existence of these great 

 nuisances. 



To reach this great and beneficial end, it is ne- 

 cessary that a law should be enacted to authorize 

 the execution of general schemes of drainage, and 

 to require of all proprietors (under proper sale- 

 guards and restrictions,) to coniribute to the exe- 

 cution of works niani esily for the benefit of each 

 one and of all. The difliculiies which might ap- 

 pear to oppose such beneficial legislation are aa 

 nothing in comparison to the benefits to be obtain- 

 ed ; and if the great object were really and ear- 

 nestly desired, the means would be readily found. 



The degree and continuance of health and the 

 duration of healthy or useful lile, have perhaps 

 never been esiitnated in pecuniary value, and are 

 not at all suited to be so estimated with any ap- 

 proach to accuracy. Yet it cannot be doubted, 

 that if thus esliinaied, the bare pecuniary loss 

 to the res.denis of lower Virginia and to the com- 

 monwealth, caused by the diseases from malaria 

 alone, would be of enormous annual amount. 1 

 speak not of the pain and unhappiness produced — 

 i)ut merely of the loss of labor of the sick and the 

 infirm from sickness, and of the prematurely 

 dead — ol the expenditures thereby incurred — of 

 the general and pervading benumbing and enfee- 

 bling influence of malaria on mind and body — 

 and of the very great depreciation of all values 

 in a region regularly so atfiided. And if the 

 cessation of wrong legislation, or the substitution 

 of right and wise legislation, could serve to prevent 

 even a small proportion of the prevalent dis- 

 eases of lower Virginia, it would be an incalcu- 

 lable gain of pecuniary agricultural value to the 

 people, and an important gain to the stale trea- 

 sury, Irom the great increase of labor and its pro- 

 ducis, and of productive agricultural capital in 

 general. 



The stalemenis above go to show ihat the 

 great oljcct of preserving health, which our legal 

 policy has never aimed to aid by any permanent 

 or judicious regulations, might be greatly for- 

 warded by the same legal measures which would 

 permit and induce the reclaiming of the swamps. 

 For it is not necessary to prove the universally 

 admitted proposition, that all swamps and swampy 

 lands are more or less productive of unhealthy 

 exhalations or malaria, and therelbre injurious 

 to health. But this one branch of the evil, how- 

 ever important a subject for the remedial action 

 of government, is far less so than the next which 



